Is an ATS-Compliant Cover Letter Necessary? How Systems Parse Cover Letters
By Umut Barış Terzioğlu · · Updated
Do you need one?
If the application form asks for a cover letter, send one. If it is optional, send one when you have something specific to say about this job: why you are applying, how your experience meets the two or three main requirements, or something the CV cannot explain on its own, such as a move to another city or a change of field. A generic letter adds reading time without adding information.
What the ATS does with it
In most systems a cover letter is stored as a separate document attached to your application. Whether its text is parsed, made searchable or counted in any match score depends on the system and on how the employer set it up, and from the outside you cannot tell. Two practical consequences follow:
- Do not rely on the letter to cover skills that are missing from your CV. If a requirement is true for you, put it in the CV, where it is read and matched in any case.
- Assume the letter will be read by a person, often after the CV, and write it for that reader.
Format it so it survives the upload
The same rules apply as for the CV:
- Upload a text-based PDF or a DOCX, whichever the portal asks for. Never a scan or an image.
- Use one column. Keep contact details in the body, not in text boxes, tables or the page header.
- Use a standard font and plain paragraphs.
- Name the file clearly, for example Firstname-Lastname-Cover-Letter.pdf.
- If the portal has separate fields for the CV and the letter, use both. A combined file can lead the parser to mix letter text into your CV fields.
- If the portal offers a text box instead of an upload field, paste plain text. Formatting is stripped there, so bullets and symbols can turn into stray characters; write short paragraphs instead.
For the file-type question in more detail, see PDF or DOCX CV.
What to write
A structure that works for most roles, kept to well under one page:
- Subject or opening: the exact job title from the ad, plus the reference number if there is one, and one sentence on why this role.
- Evidence: one or two paragraphs that take the main requirements from the ad and answer each with something you have done. These are the same facts as in your CV, told as a short example.
- Close: what you are asking for, a conversation, and how to reach you.
Use the terms from the ad where they describe you truthfully, and keep names, job titles and dates identical to the CV. A recruiter reads the two side by side. The same approach to wording applies to the CV itself; see how to add keywords to a CV.
Before and after
| Before | After |
|---|---|
| I am a highly motivated team player with excellent communication skills, and I believe I would be a great fit for your company. | Your ad asks for someone to run supplier onboarding. In my current role at a regional food wholesaler I set up the onboarding process for 40 new suppliers and shortened the average setup from three weeks to eight days. |
The second version names a requirement from the ad, gives evidence and can be checked against the CV. The first could be sent to any employer, which is why it tells the reader nothing.
Checklist
- The job title and reference number match the ad exactly.
- Every claim in the letter also appears in the CV.
- Contact details are in the body text, not in a header or text box.
- The letter is a text-based PDF or DOCX, or plain text in the portal's text box.
- It answers the two or three main requirements of this ad, not every job you could apply for.
Drafting help
The cover letter tool drafts a letter or an email from your CV and one job ad, in a short, medium or long version. Each paragraph is checked against your CV, and a paragraph that names a skill, number or employer your CV does not show is dropped. It runs on the AI model you turn on, and you can copy the text or download it as .txt or .docx.